Macon beacon. [volume] (Macon, Miss.) 1859-1995, 1887-04-23
THE PARIS TOWER.
WHAT the Protector of the Gigantic Strue-
ture Has to Say About 1t.

What the Protector of the Gigantic strue-
ture Has to Say About 1t.
Paris is to have the greatest tower in
the world, after all. NJ. Eiffel's tower,
which the Government has authorized
him to raise on the Champ de Mars,
will dominate all Paris, and surpass, in
fact almost double, in height the high |
est existing structure. Liberty, To
whom such homage was paid for her
grandeur and greatness, is but apigmy |
of the statue world compared with this |
gigantic monster Lord Nelson's mon
ument, London, is 1872 feet; Liberty"
New York, 220 feet; St. Paul's, Lon
don, 800 feet; tn, Great Pyramid, AGO
feet; St. Peters, OF Rome. 5O7 feet; the
Cologne Cathedral, 532 feet; the Wash
ington Monument, at present the high
est in the world, 555 feet; and the Paris
Tower is 1000 feet. In order to find
out what NJ. Eiffel had to say to the
various objections which have been
made to his tower, and to get his
opinion on its utility, l called on him
the other day at his works at Lenallois-
Perret. To him his great projection is
synonymous with the success of the
exhibition.
"They begin by declaring,' he re-
marked, referring to his adyersaries,
"that my tower is not French. 1t is
big enough and clumsy enough for the
English or Americans, but it is not our
style, they say. We are occupied more
with little artistic bibeIots than giants of
bad taste like yourtower. But though we
are occupied most with art and music.
that is no reason" said he, emphatic
ally, "why we should not show the
world what we can do in the way Of
great engineering projects. And as
for its being bad taste, why, on the con-
trary, it will be one of the chief orna-
ments of the town. One of the most
frequent objections made to the tower
is that it is useless. That is another
error. Take its importance, for in
stance, from "a meteorological point of
view. 1t is not every day that meteor
ologists can get up one thousand feet
above the soil. This tower will enable
them to study the decrease of tempera.
ture at different heights, to observe the
variations of winds, find out the guam
tity of rain that falls at differen,
heights and the density of the clouds.
Indeed, in all that relates to tempera.
ture, hygrometry, air currents and the
composition of the air, the tower will
afford opportunities for study and re.
search, many of which have hitherto
been impossible. 1t will be equally
useful to astronomers. Here experience
with the spectroscope can be carried
on with great facility; the laws o.
refraction and the physical aspects
of the moon, planets and nebuls
studied in most favorable conditions,
have received testimonies from savant'
on all these points. Then there il
its utility from military point o
view. In the event of another siege o
Paris see how important this towe
would be. Communication could b,
kept up by means of optic telegraph,
for great distance around Paris; 70
from the summit you could have mag
nificent panorama extending from ~
to 130 kilometers. Paris by night, dec
Grated and illuminated as it will b.
during the exhibition, is sight whicl
before was only within the reach o
aeronauts. In fact. the tower will b.
the chief attraction of the exhibition
Sir Cunliffe Owen remarked to me jus
the other day: "Do you think that w
English will come to look at your littl
bibelots and pots of pomade? No, bu
we will come in hundreds to see you
tower
"What If it topple over, NJ. Eiffel?'
There is not the least danger o
that. In our construction of the towe
we have calculated on the force of tn
wind, We have calculated that tn
tower will normally withstand a win,
pressure of 800 kilogrammes per squar
meter, which amounts to total pres
sure of 2,250,000 kilogrammes. w
have made this calculation on the mos
favorable hypothesis possible. W
| ~, II. f,,1
walls, and made other allowances
And as the strongest tempests eve
known in Paris have never been be
yond pressure of l50 kilos per squar
meter, the tower is perfectly secure
Should wind bearing force of 80
kilos arise, little would be left stand
, ing in Paris but the tower. Paris Coz
Pail Mall Gazette.